Falkirk schoolgirl’s funny video goes viral with 14.7 million views

Kirsty Beaton

A video of a Falkirk schoolgirl singing has gone viral on the internet, racking up 14.7 million views in less than a week.

Johdi McEwan (16) recorded herself using a new phone app, Acapella, doing a Harry Potter skit. She sent it to a school friend, who posted it on Twitter on Monday night, and now her 30 second movie has had millions of views.

The Falkirk High pupil was inspired by a Harry Potter puppet video that was popular online a few years ago and decided to sing the names of characters in the fantasy film and layer the videos together using the app.

The morning after sending the video to her friend, it had been viewed 200,000 times and after being shared by prominent bloggers and pages such as Lad Bible, now 14.7 million people have watched it, with the figure growing every hour.

Johdi’s mum Dawn, who owns Centre Stage Dance Wear in Linlithgow, said she can’t believe her video went viral. She said: “Johdi is the family comedian and is always trying to make us laugh. She showed me the video and I just said, ‘yes, very nice’ and then got back to peeling tatties, I’ve no idea why it’s been so popular.”

People from all over the world have watched the video and Johdi has had hundred of friends requests on Facebook and even marriage proposals. While most of the comments have been positive, some have been less complimentary to the teenager.

Dawn said: “I was concerned when I saw how quickly this took off, but Johdi is very sensible and she knows not to add anyone on Facebook she doesn’t know. It’s a lesson on how powerful social media is, most have been nice but there has been the odd mean comment. Luckily, Johdi is thick skinned and understands people can be cruel from behind their keybords.

“Johdi wasn’t even the one to upload it but people have tracked her down and are asking what her next video will be.”

The new internet star is not considering a career in performing arts, instead focusing on studying chemical engineering at university.